Editor’s Note On Special Pakistan Issue

Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 2 Issue: 17

Pakistan is a complex country made up of some 160 million people (95 percent of whom are Muslims) with various ethnic groups vying for power and recognition. Progressive 20th century institutions and Western-educated leaders are constantly challenged by an entrenched feudal establishment and a religious hierarchy espousing traditional Islamic world-views. In approaching the problems of terrorism in Pakistan, the four articles here depict the ups and downs of the country’s experience ever since it was created out of British India in 1947. The articles on Karachi and Peshawar reflect the microcosms of this experience. The article on al-Qaeda in Pakistan reveals what the country inherited for supporting the jihad in Afghanistan on behalf of the United States and Saudi Arabia, while the article on Iran and Pakistan illustrates the common heritage of this sensitive region and how the U.S. and Soviet rivalry in Afghanistan affected both nations.

The October 2017 issue of Militant Leadership Monitor features briefs on the state of North African jihad and a militant ally of al-Assad in northeastern Syria, as well as profiles on Ansar al-Sharia Pakistan Emir Abdul Karim Saroush Siddiqui; Taliban Deputy Chief Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob; Islamic State in Libya Emir Abdel Qader al-Najdi; and Shebak... MORE